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Library Discussion Topic

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]So, from what I saw, this had seemed to vaporize from the forum, so I thought it would be useful to bring it back, although with slightly different questions. This topic mainly centers on the Library and, if wanted, the OTC section of the forum as well, although more the writing aspect of it. We will discuss ideas for the library, ways to improve, answer questions, et cetera. So, here are the basic questions, and I have some that were from the previous LDT.[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others? [/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic post[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Short Stories. It never appears to be as cluttered as Epics, although the stories are obviously both enjoyable. There's always fun, interactive contests there, and a writer has a better chance of getting reviews there than in the Comedies forum or Epics.[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Comedies, by far. Some will obviously disagree with me here, but the same overused jokes are there, no originality, et cetera. I tried my hand there, and my story was overwhelmed by the 'popular' stuff. Nobody there tends to take writing seriously - if they did, they would try harder to improve their grammar and spelling, try to not use as many emoticons, try to add some seriousness to it, and so on. I don't see any effort to do any of those things. Honestly, I dislike Comedies intensely, and I wish it didn't exist, and I'm going to be very open in my opinion there. People may start swarming me and possibly decide to kill me, but I frankly think it doesn't need to be there.[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]Now, I'm going to add on to what I said about my trying to write in there. I've had two or three people accuse me of only getting reviews for my comedy because I was 'popular' in the SS and Epics forums, and that, in truth, I wasn't any good, or that I somehow received more reviews than others did. What did I receive again? Oh, maybe five reviews. Yeah, that's a lot. It wasn't because of my so-called popularity. People knew I took my writing seriously. I always have.[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]If you were to see the popular writers from Comedies going into the SS forum, don't you think they'd have their dozens of reviewers chasing after them and reviewing their work and swooning all over it? You can apply the same rules for those writers as you can for me. It frustrates me how people can possibly say that because of my popularity (sorry, but my popularity is maybe a one in comparison to some other very, very talented writers here), I gained reviews. Maybe it had to do with the fact that those reviewers were also my friends, and they wanted to do it because they wanted to help me? Ever thought of that? Just like how other writers in the Comedies forum ask their friends to review their stories? Difference is, I didn't ask for them to do it. They just did it.[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]I just felt like clearing that up, because it tends to be very frustrating when people say those things. Sorry, but I had to rant. It's human nature, for goodness sake.[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]----[/color][/font]

[color=rgb(105,105,105);][font="georgia, serif;"]I'm not posting all my answers just yet, this post is long enough, haha. I'll get back to it another time, but for the meantime, I'm interested in what you BZPers have to say! This isn't writers only, anybody is welcome! =)[/color][/font]

0

On the day the wall came down / They threw the locks onto the groundAnd with glasses high / We raised a cry / For freedom had arrived

On the day the wall came down / The ship of fools had finally run agroundPromises lit up the night / Like paper doves in flight

I dreamed you had left my side / No warmth, not even pride remainedAnd even though you needed me / It was clear that I could not do a thing for you

Now life devalues day by day / As friends and neighbors turn awayAnd there's a change that even with regret / Cannot be undone

Now frontiers shift like desert sands / While nations wash their bloodied handsOf loyalty, of history / In shades of grey

I woke to the sound of drums / The music played, the morning sun streamed inI turned and I looked at you / And all but the bitter residues slipped away

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?

My favourite section would have to be the epics, if only because I enjoy reading them the most out of the three different types. I tend to prefer them because of the larger amount of legroom multiple chapters allow for both story progression and character development.

Q2: Least favorite subforum?

I'd have to say Comedies but that's only because it brings back terrible memories of those awful, awful comedies I used to write myself. I could purge my brain of them, I could never be happier. Well, that and the fact that I've found that my sense of humour doesn't really apply to most of the stuff that gets posted there, and I find it very difficult to write comedy. That won't stop me from trying though.

Well, I'm of a split mind about this. Yes, it's good because it enforces the idea of quality and effort so you can't just throw out any hurriedly written fic, but at the same time I know that it's possible to create a short story (Or poem) in far less than 300 words. As I said, I have no particular opinion on the matter.

Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)

Well, I don't see why not. It's still literature of a kind, no matter the themes or quality.

Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?

I love the idea of spiritual isolation. The concept of being alone in the universe. I understand that it's mainly unnecessary for Bionicle and controversial for BZPower but I think that the idea of Mata Nui being a figure that the characters know exist but is nowhere to be found is a really fun thing to toy with. I've been experimenting with it for a while now in The Best Kept Secrets, sort of touched upon it in In Your Absence and I have a short story about Makuta Teridax planned which will play heavily on this idea.

As for other themes, though it's nothing out of the ordinary, I love blurring the lines between moralities. It doesn't show yet in TBKS, but one of the things I enjoy most about The Shadow of this Red Rock is that the character of Eyvous is performing selfish actions for what I hope is an understandable purpose. He's a protagonist who might come across as unlikeable but in a justified manner and maybe even with results than justify the means as well.

Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)

I want to post stories at a weekly rate but I keep getting so distracted and caught up in other things that it's more of a monthly thing, even less for TBKS. I hate that and really want to improve. As for reviewing, being a member of the ECC, I tend to post a review once a fortnight.

Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)

I used the ECC once last year to review TBKS. It was actually pretty useful as I got an incredibly pleasant and helpful review from Eponine. I haven't used them since, but may perhaps later when I get closer to finishing TSotRR. And maybe the SSCC for IYA, given that was the first non-Bionicle bit of literature I've written.

Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?

I always thought that it was for all writers to get together. I'm not sure you could have a flash epic contest but I think if I were being less facetious, it might just work. Were there other groups I would probably join them, but I haven't been doing so good in participating for the Ambage so I don't know if there'd be much of a point in it for me. For others I'd think it great and maybe I might even come out of my shell eventually. Who knows?

Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?

It's difficult to choose a favourite but I'd have to say that an absolute highlight of a read had been Cederak when I reviewed Cenotaphs.

Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?

As I said above, Cenotaphs. It was so deeply immersive and enjoyable.

Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?

I think the general activity of BZPower itself has decreased as of late, which is certainly only to be expected as this is a forum for a dead toy line by Lego. I'm actually surprised we still have such avid writers, though not at all disappointed. As for how we could increase it is perhaps to make this a more writing-centric site, encouraging new writers to come in and try their skills. As it is, I think BZPower's doing pretty well on that front.

Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?

I don't see a real problem with it. It encourages spontaneity and for writers to try out ideas that didn't originally come from them. At least, assuming they actually do something. I still owe Takuma Nuva a story...

Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic post

First off let me just say thank you for posting this topic again. I was actually looking at the old one just a couple days ago, wishing it wasn't past the revival date so I could post, as I've changed my mind on a few things. Well, here's my chance. =] Now onto the fun part...the questions/ranting! Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?Oh, definitely OTC if you count that. I love the Bionicle Library and all the experiences I've had there, but I haven't written a story there in ages and now I much prefer writing non-fan-fiction stories. But out of the library, my favorite would definitely be Short Stories. My problem with Epics have always been the length...For those who don't know me I'm quite the bibliophile, reading on average more than a book a week. In doing so I don't like reading long, fan-fiction, non-published stories all that much. Not that they're not good, or wouldn't be enjoyable, but I have hundreds and hundreds of books both that I want to read or that I need to buy. And because I can't just sit and read all day (though some days I do, haha), I put my time into books instead of epics. That said, I'm not against them, and I've definitely enjoyed reading epics in the past. Then again, this is now straying into the "favorite stories" question so I'll get to that later. As for Comedies... Q2: Least favorite subforum?No surprise here, but definitely Comedies. And the more I say it the more I'm saddened, honestly. And I honestly still can't figure out what the comedies here even are. They're not plays, they're not screenplays, they're definitely not prose (for the most part)... The other thing I don't get is why it's even a subforum, but I'll get to that later. For now, I'll just say that I love comedic stories, and I really wish I could like them here on BZPower, but everything in the Comedies forum (that I've seen, at least), hasn't really been all that funny. For example, both GSR and Tyler Durden (Marlon Brando) wrote extremely enjoyable and funny stories in a project the Ambage has been working on (which will be revealed soon), and they're some of my favorite stories. And they're hilarious. But they wouldn't be long in the Comedies forum, because they're nothing like any other comedy there. So all in all, I just don't like the atmosphere there. I understand not every writes to become a published author, and not everyone cares about taking writing seriously, but I do -- and I take reading seriously, too. And as such, the Comedies forum just doesn't appeal to me at all. Q3: Should the entire Library have a 300 word count minimum? Why or why not? So this is one of those questions that I've changed my mind for. I used to think there should be, but after thinking about it more, I don't think there should be. The reason I was for it before was because I had recently seen several epic chapters and short stories that were extremely short and filled with poor grammar/spamish. But just because there's a few topics like that isn't really a reason to constrict other authors. Because the truth is, there can be good stories with only 300 words. Even not counting poems. For example, GSR told me about a book with a chapter that's only a sentence long -- obviously far under 300 words. Yet it was a fantastic book and the short chapter really worked. And I've seen short chapters myself since then. So, in short: No, I don't think there should be. Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? Ah, yes, the ultimate question. And honestly, I'm still very unsure. On one hand I say yes, definitely. On the other, I say no way. Let's start with "yes." What is a "comedy"? Is it a type of story, or a genre? On BZPower it's both, almost 50/50. But in the real world it's only a genre. Right up there with "tragedy", "thriller", "mystery", "romance", "fantasy", "Sci-fi", etc. etc. So by that logic it should definitely be moved in with the rest of the Library. We don't have a separate forum for mystery stories, do we? Or tragedies? So we should follow that and put comedies in with the rest as well. But then you come to another problem: the type of story that "Comedies" are. So now we move on to the "no." Because exactly that, really...the stories in Comedies aren't short stories, and they're not epics. Again, I'm still not really sure what you would call them, because they're not any style I've ever seen except here on BZPower. And because of that, they would stand out horribly in Short Stories or Epics. I wish they could be moved together -- comedies is a genre and by all logic they should be -- but here on BZPower, that wouldn't really work. Which is a real problem, because it creates an awkward situation for some. For example, the stories by GSR and Marlon Brando that I mentioned earlier. If they were posted in Comedies they'd stand out like a sore thumb. If they were posted in Short Stories they'd fit right in, yet technically they'd be against the rules because they're comedies. Of course, this problem doesn't really exist because the aforementioned stories aren't even Bionicle, but the point still stands. There's also Cederak's comedy that he posted a few months ago. It really doesn't fit with the rest, but he couldn't post it in Short Stories because it's a comedy. So what I really wish would that whatever format you want to call it that's currently in Comedies would not be allowed. But of course that's an unrealistic wish and will never happen. Perhaps some sort of medium could be found, though, where short-story-like comedies could be posted in short stories. So in the end...should Comedies be merged? No. But should some changes be made? Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea -- like letting stories like Cederak's in Short Stories, etc. Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?Wow, this is a big question for only 8 words. I could probably talk for hours and hours about the themes I like to write about, but I'll try to keep it brief here. To put it in as few words and as generally as possible, I guess you could say a theme I like to write about is "morality." Of course, as I view it, and not everyone has the same view and that's fine, but let's not get into that here. You'll see this with a lot of authors, though, in a very general sense at least -- the proverbial battle between good and evil, even withing single characters. And I love using that idea in my stories. Not just a good guy fighting against a bad guy, but a good guy fighting against "bad" things inside himself. And not even necessarily what everyone would consider bad. For example it's generally accepted that something like, say, murder is "bad." But there's many other things that one person might consider good, and another person might consider bad. Even something so small as eating candy or something. Or then there's the sense of "in moderation" -- eating candy in moderation is okay, but too much is bad. Or eating too much is never bad. Or eating any at all is bad. People have vastly varying opinions on things, sometimes incredibly simple things, and I love putting that into my writing. Of course, I also like putting many of my own personal opinions and beliefs into my main characters. But it's just one of the many things I love about writing...I can do whatever I want. I can play around with any type of situation or belief and do whatever I want with it. And it's incredibly fun to do that. There's also many more "basic" themes I like to portray in my writing. For example, I love writing about the military, and former military people. Most of my main (American) characters were in one branch of the military or another. Sometimes I write about how I wish things could be, or how I wish I was, but other times I write about things that I fear most. In my short story "Souvenirs," for example, I wrote about one of my biggest nightmares -- that if I do join the military, something like that might happen. But at the same time, it's something I find incredibly honorable. I would have a lot of respect for a family like that, and of course feel a lot of pain and sorrow at the same time. So going off of that, some of my favorite themes to write about are definitely things that scare me. I love using emotion -- especially sad -- and especially about things that make me most emotional. To be honest I'm not even exactly sure why, but I do love writing about things that are, in my opinion, often most tragic. So even things like tragic love stories, etc., because I like to consider myself a romantic and tragic love stories move me (sometimes, of course -- they can also become just very sappy or corny, my main reason for mostly staying away from them thusfar). Of course there's some themes that I just don't write about at all, because they are, in my mind, too horrible or painful. Maybe some day I will, but yeah. Then of course there's the complete flip side of that. I love writing about things that I love. Best example of that would be my story "The Tower" -- about a father and his child. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm absolutely obsessed with babies. And so I love writing about them. And that plays in to my tragic writing as well...losing children is one of the worst things to me, so writing it makes a very tragic and emotional story, in my opinion. Same with addictions and other things, because I've had addictions and they've hurt and scare me. So to me, they're emotional stories. But of course then there's just stories not driven by emotion. I love characterization, and while of course that plays into emotion, I love using characters in my stories. I love writing mysteries and thrillers and dark stories because they're things I enjoy. But, so, I think that's long enough for now. As for Bionicle...yeah, a lot of these themes are much harder to do in Bionicle. Especially anything romance at all, because it's hard for me to take those stories seriously...imagining basically two robots in love. Of course that's also why I preferred to write in "human-Bionicle" because it allows me to use more human themes in Bionicle stories. Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? Unfortunately no where near as often as I'd like, for either. I'm hoping to some time post a short story every week, but I'm not sure if that will ever happen. Right now I'd say, on average, perhaps once every month or two. As for reviewing stories, I review at least one a week most of the time, but I hope to start reviewing more often. I've just been caught up with many other writing projects and reading and school and everything else. Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful?Yes, definitely. I firmly believe in criticism (I mean, that is why they're called "critics" clubs, after all), because I don't think writers can get better without it. Yes, writing and writing and writing helps, and to get better you have to just write. But you also have to know what you're doing wrong and fix it, in my opinion. For example, one of the (if not the) most influential reviews I've ever received would be by Takuta-Nui, when he told me "I didn't like this" to one story. Very blunt, and sure, it hurt my ego. But as I said that's one of the most influential reviews I've gotten. Before that, I had gotten mostly "ooh I love it!" posts, with maybe one or two small things to fix but that's it. T-N didn't sugarcoat it, and I am eternally thankful for that. It made me realize "wow, my writing really does suck doesn't it?" and that is, in my opinion, when I started becoming a better writer. The next story I wrote after that was "Tahu in the Rain", still one of my favorite stories and definitely one of my better-written stories. Most definitely my first "okay-written" stories, as everything before then really wasn't good at all. But, so, the Critics Clubs (at least, the SSCC and ECC -- I haven't ever gotten a review from the CCC and I'm no longer involved with it so I can't say) provide reviews like that, and I think they're the best reviews. Especially the ECC, and how in-depth their reviews go, and how long their reviews are, I think it's just spectacular and amazing, and honestly I can't wait to post/write an epic just so I can get it torn apart by the ECC. I've made use of the SSCC many times and love it. Of course, you could say I'm biased because I'm the curator, but honestly the reviews I've gotten from there have immensely helped me. Even positive reviews, because they point out specific things that maybe I was unsure about, and now I see, "Oh, so I actually did that right. Cool." All in all the critics clubs are definitely some of the greatest parts about BZPower and the Library, and I only wish they could give more reviews, haha. Or even longer, but that's kinda crazy considering how long they are already. Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?Just to put an official clarification, as I am one of the Hosts of the Ambage: The Ambage is for all the writing forums on BZPower -- SSs, Epics, Comedies, and OTC alike. It's "headquarters" is in Short Stories mostly because that's what most of the writing is for the Ambage. But we definitely allow Epics and Comedies, and even have Achievements for both of them. However, if you're talking about the flash fiction contests...I wouldn't be against hosting an Ambage contest for Epics or Comedies. If people have interest, we (the hosts) are always welcome to and looking for suggestions people may have. So if enough people want it, we'll find a way to make it happen. As The Affably Evil Automation mentioned, I'm not sure if a flash fiction contest specifically could work, but I'm sure we could think of something for Epics (and Comedies). Again: we're always open to suggestions! One of the biggest things about the Ambage is the Community focus -- we don't want this to just be a dictatorship-type of club, but we want it to be collaborative and a group effort. So anyone who has any suggestions, please PM myself or another Host, or simply post in The Ambage topic in Short Stories. =] Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?Blargh, another hard question to answer shortly. I'll go backwards and talk about the inspiring ones first. There's definitely specific people that inspire me more than others -- mostly because I consider them to be at a much higher writing-level than me, or for other reasons like the amount of writing they do or things like that. That list is considerably shorter: Takuta-Nui -- as I mentioned before he's one of the most influential people for me. His writing is amazing, he's a great critic, and he's completely honest. Way back in the day he was one of the main reasons I was writing, started writing, and continued writing. Most importantly he taught me how to push myself, and to realize when my stories or writing sucked. ToM Dracone -- haha, he was basically my idol for many years. And he's still one of my favorite authors and I think he's an awesome guy. His writing is just amazing and always inspired me. Nuju Metru -- my partner in crime moderating, and a good friend, this guy pushed me to write and always inspired me to write more and better, because I always considered him to be better at writing than me. Cederak -- oh man, Caleb...there's so much to say here I don't even know where to begin. But to put it simply I've always looked up to him as a writer, and I was always impressed by how many epics he had written. Now he's one of my best friends and still is such an inspiration to me -- to write more, and to write better. Going along with that, bonesiii's epics always inspired me to write more because of how massive they are and how many there are, haha. Nuile -- a relatively new inspiration to me, but this guy is a writer. The amount of devotion he has for writing and the time he spends doing it is just super inspiring. He's inspired me to start writing every single day, even if I don't want to. 55555 -- John has been my partner-in-writing for about a year or more now. We do write-offs together, we plan on writing a novel together, and he's always there to force me to write when I don't want to. Lady Kopaka -- just one of my favorite overall writers, she's always encouraged me to write and has always told me I'm good at it, even when I don't agree and think she's so much better than I am. Tolkien -- one of my favorite authors, if not my favorite right now, this guy is amazing and always inspires me to write more and to write better. He's a great writer, an amazing person, and a good friend that I'm lucky to know. Ezorov -- she's literally my best friend and is always telling me that she thinks I'm a great writer, even when I don't believe her or agree with her. But she always tells me to keep writing. The Ambage -- honestly just as a whole, this club has inspired me so much. Being around writers at literally any and all hours of the day is just amazing and inspiring. I know I've probably forgotten some people, and I apologize if I have. As for my favorite authors, definitely all of the above, as well as: Kakaru, Peach 00, Tyler Durden, Eponine/Aderia, Jean Valjean/Kraggh, and just so many more. Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?Oh man, I'll just take the lazy way out and say everything by the people above. I know there's more and I'll probably post here again with those, but yeah. Everyone I listed is a great writer and worth reading. Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?Recently? No. The Library has been dead for as long as I can remember. If anything, at times I feel like it's slightly more active, but it definitely goes in waves. There'll be a month or two of activity, then nothing, then activity, then nothing, etc. Really the only way for it to be increased would just be more stories and more reviews. Most people should request reviews from the SSCC and ECC. But really, people just need to post more. No need for posts at SSCC or ECC standard -- that's their job. But just a paragraph or few sentences post would be great. Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?Yes and no. I completely understand why they're not allowed now, and I think it's a good idea that they aren't. Of course, it'd be fun to have them, but there's just so many reasons not to. Besides, there's also RPGs for that, and collaborative epics are allowed. So all in all I don't think they need to be allowed specifically. Perhaps an official one or two would be cool, though, like if it was hosted by the Ambage or another Library staff member or something, but otherwise I think they're not allowed for a good reason, and would need close moderation (hence an "official" one). Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic post.Oh, there could never be enough. =P I love ranting about writing, as you can see. I'm sure I have more ideas but I'm a little drained of energy as it is, so I'll probably post later with those suggestions. =] Though I guess some basic questions like "Why do you write" or "Why you started writing" or whatnot would be cool, but unfortunately that's all I can think of right now.

Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)

I don't really know...

Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?

I don't write stories for BZP, but if I did, probably Ninjago or Legends of Chima.

Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)

I've never posted a story here.

Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)

Nope. I don't even know what that is.

Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?

I don't really know. I don't partake in contests usually, nor do I write for the library here.

Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?

I haven't read enough to pick a favorite.

Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?

Couldn't really choose among some good ones I've read.

Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?

I haven't been watching the forum to see any changes in activity.

Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?

It would definitely be interesting, though I likely wouldn't take part.

Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic post

DISCLAIMER: All opinions and contributions made under this account are based solely on my own personal thoughts and opinions, and in no way represent any of the above groups/entities. If you have any concerns or inquiries about the contributions made under this account, please contact me individually and I will address them with you to the best of my ability.

Thanks for reposting! I like answering the questions that come out of each new LDT; they tend to help me make decisions about or become more grounded in the current guidelines for the Library.

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?

Right now, I'm really happy with the state of Short Stories. I feel like it's doing very well, and my current focus is to help the other two forums catch up with it.

EDIT: I realize I should also mention that I've been really happy with Comedies, as well; there's some stuff that needs work in there still, but the community there is really great. I'm really proud of the patrons there, too.

Q2: Least favorite subforum?

I haven't been pleased with Epics lately, possibly because I remember when it was at its best. Years ago, it was what you might call the crown jewel of the Library forum section. Whereas most of the Library reports used to come from Comedies, most of them come from Epics now.

I still stand by the way I answered this question in the old topic, here. I'm currently restructuring the Comedies rules and plan to remove that one when I do. Until then, the 300-word rule will still be in place. I absolutely stand by my decision that word count minimums would be content limiters based on an opinion, and therefore I do not condone them.

Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)

I did answer this in the other topic, but I have a better answer now. I would like to mention that the nature of the Comedies forum has always been somewhat divided in two, since the very beginning. Lately, one of these sides has been dominating Comedies, which is causing a lot of confusion, it seems. There used to be a lot of "high-brow" type comedies in the forum, along with your usual "crazy-fic" stuff (that's what I call it, anyway) that dominates the forum now. I imagine that GSR, Marlon Brando, and Cederak's stories, which Velox mentioned above, are like those old "high-brow" comedies. Over time, the crazy-fics have chased out many of those who would write more serious comedic works. I suppose the separation is still in place because, as on most popular forums, there are still enough members who want to write some screwball fanfics. We don't want to prohibit this since it is always in demand and again, doing so would simply be a content limiter. But I don't want it to mix in with the short stories and epics, since people who go there are looking for one thing, and those who like their crazy-fics are looking for something else. It's a very internet-specific thing, I guess.

This issue is something I plan to address, but in the meantime I'm still brainstorming. For now, please know that very humorous stories, whether high-brow or not, are still welcome in Comedies as they always are. I know the crazy-fics tend to scare readers with a different appetite, but there are some very lovely gems hidden among them if you're willing to look. There's some crazy-fics that are pretty awesome, too! If you stumble across a comedy you don't like, just move on and look for something you like better. Comedies is not meant to be defined only by immature jokes, cheap laughs, and slapstick (though it rightfully allows for that), and it seems to have gained a stereotype of containing only that, in a bad way. If writers want to post their high-brow comedies there, I definitely welcome them. I know the typical writers there tend love a good high-brow, even if they post crazy-fic. So please don't be afraid.

Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?

My favorite things to write about are the feelings and interactions of characters. I've been writing a lot of point-and-click game scripts lately that deal with this type of thing. I also love creepy-pastas and lately have been really interested in writing some of my own. I moved away from writing about Bionicle a long time ago because I ran out of ideas for it.

Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)

I don't post stories on BZP anymore. I review stories maybe twice a month? I review a lot in the summer because that's when I get many PMs from members who want me to review their stories before they post them.

Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)

I haven't had a need for them, but at the moment they're all in very good condition and run by some amazing people. ^^

Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?

Ambage is for the entire Library, it's just in Short Stories because SS is the hub for the entire Library. If Ambage isn't covering a need in Epics or Comedies that you feel they should, you can definitely drop Velox a line.

Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?

Most of my fave internet authors are on more writing-centric forums or websites. As for here, the only one I can really think of who's still relevant is Janus, because I've always loved his Brotherhood epic. YOU SHOULD READ IT TOOOOO ~

Also I really enjoyed Kakaru's recent short story, and honestly, InnerRayg (and his cast) counts as a BZP author with his comic, and I like that a lot, too. As far as old authors I love, I remember really liking Nova Nuhvok (Belfy), Israeli Toa, PaharakGirl, korobound, and <daydreamer>.

Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?

Like I said above, Brotherhood. The rest are pretty old. The only ones I can think of at the moment are From Boys To Men by Israeli Toa, the one that Nova Nuhvok wrote about Takua, and <daydreamer>'s series about her character Mabel.

Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?

If by "recently" you mean "in the past 5 years", then yes. And honestly, in the past year it's increased! I think we should keep doing what we are doing now, and keep encouraging others to post their works on BZP if they want to. And review! Especially if you want reviews for yourself. It doesn't have to be paragraphs of feedback. You can leave a few sentences, even for an epic, and that alone can make an author's day.

If we made it back to the amount of activity we used to have, that would be a miracle. I think all of BZP would need an activity increase for this to come close to happening.

Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?

I'm still hesitant to allow just anyone to start up a round-robin. Back when we had more activity, I would have said no immediately. BZP's in a better place to have something like this, but still I don't know as of yet. Collaborative epics and comedies are allowed, and you can admit however many co-authors you like. RPGs are also a good way to round-robin.

I've been running something similar in the contests to test the grounds and see how they go. So as of now, it's up in the air. I can see staff-operated and supervised round-robins being cool at the moment, though.

Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic post)

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?

[color=#008080;]Comedies. It's my domain, and has been for just over four years now. I'm not leaving it yet. I have friends in the forum, I'm in charge of a critics club, I'm part of the atrociously named federation, I help organize the expos where everyone shows off wicked awesome stuff, and I'm the author of a rather large series that has been written since December 2010 and is still in progress - which plenty of members still enjoy reading. Comedies is, quite frankly, a warmer and more welcoming crowd than SS, Epics or even the Ambage, and even better, the forum knows how to take a joke lightly without resorting to mindless insults, and even better than that, the folks in Comedies understand why the forum is there while nobody else does.[/color]

[color=#008080;]I don't really have an opinion either way. Having the rule means you're less likely to get spam, and you can make even stupid people understand the rules regarding what a story is. However, especially for poetry and the like, I do believe the rule is limiting in a bad fashion.[/color]

[color=#008080;]To be honest, I'd have more of a problem if there was a maximum word count you could have. That would suck.[/color]

Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)

[color=#008080;]I don't see why not, really. It would take some getting used to, but deep down, I think everyone is just afraid of change. Humour is a genre just like horror, suspense and romance, so it should be categorized into the same forum as them. If people don't understand or like what the Comedies forum calls "script" comedies, they can just ignore them or they can post some critique explaining why they don't enjoy it.[/color]

Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?

[color=#008080;]I'll write any theme if I think it fits how I'm feeling at the time. As for any better expressed without the influence of Bionicle, I need to say romance. I took Bionicle romance as far as I was willing to take it with one of my flash fiction contest entries. You can do a lot more when it's not robots.[/color]

Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)

[color=#008080;]Almost never. The last story I posted was at the beginning of December, or at least the last new one. I did post one of my writeoff stories from October or November at the end of the month, but that's it. As for reviewing... well, if I don't have the time to read them, I definitely don't have time to review them.[/color]

Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)

[color=#008080;]I have used the SSCC on numerous occasions, and once in awhile I still use the CCC to give my critics some exercise. I've found them helpful in the past.[/color]

Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?

[color=#008080;]Ambage is for the entire forum, so we don't need anything else. I do think an Ambage contest for Comedies should happen, though. I think it would be a nice test of the skill that is the claim to fame for all members of the group.[/color]

Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?

[color=#008080;]I was actually inspired to join BZP and write by the comedy "Glatorian Diaries". I don't remember who wrote it, but it was a comedy brand new in November or December 2008 and I joined so that I could post there and post my first comedy here. [/color]

[color=#008080;]As for favourite authors... honestly, I don't think I can really answer that. I've removed myself from the RPG forum, I'm almost gone from G&T, I've vanished from COT... even my Library activity has run dry. Outside of running the CCC and posting my own stories, I don't really have the time to spend reading much stuff here. The most I've read in awhile has been the writeoff stories from the Ambage. So I don't really have a favourite author on BZP right now.[/color]

Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?

[color=#008080;]I enjoyed both Aderia's and Grant-Sud's entries into Short Stories Contest #8, but the story names don't come to mind right now. "Fun With Taka and Tahu" by the member now known as Mr. Chicken was nice while it lasted, but my favourite story on the site is probably "Spinning Doctor Drake" by fishers64. That thing will twist around your head and spin you like a top before it's done with you, and you won't regret a moment of it. Or maybe you will since you aren't me, but I don't care.[/color]

Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?

[color=#008080;]I think it's about average right now. It has its peaks and then its dips every now and then, but right now we're doing just fine. [/color]

Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?

[color=#008080;]I'm not staff, so I'm not 100% sure why it isn't allowed, but I could see it potentially being a problem if someone were to, say, kill a character that another member was wanting/hoping to stay alive for a different purpose. Or possibly the fact that a round-robin could just turn into an RPG minus the "IC" and "OOC" stamps in every post.[/color]

Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not?

[color=#008080;]Nah, we need more questions to answer. I don't waste enough time writing just one post in these topics as it is, nope. Although to be frank, these topics could probably use questions that are more open up to discussion. That said, if anyone wants to help keep this topic alive by disagreeing with my post in some fashion, feel free to.[/color]

[color=#008080;]EDIT: I apparently answered these questions going up from 13, so if some of my early answers don't make sense, it's because they reference future answers that were previous answers to me.[/color]

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?

[color=#008080;]Comedies. It's my domain, and has been for just over four years now. I'm not leaving it yet. I have friends in the forum, I'm in charge of a critics club, I'm part of the atrociously named federation, I help organize the expos where everyone shows off wicked awesome stuff, and I'm the author of a rather large series that has been written since December 2010 and is still in progress - which plenty of members still enjoy reading. Comedies is, quite frankly, a warmer and more welcoming crowd than SS, Epics or even the Ambage, and even better, the forum knows how to take a joke lightly without resorting to mindless insults, and even better than that, the folks in Comedies understand why the forum is there while nobody else does.[/color]

I was hoping you would come in and post your thoughts about the Comedies forum. I really love the work you're doing in there with CCC; you guys all have really great attitudes and are doing awesome things for the forum.

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?Right now, probably Epics. Partly because I'm a member of the ECC, but also because I feel like it's a good place to practice my novel writing skills, which is important to me because I want to become a novelist someday.Q2: Least favorite subforum?Surprisingly, I'd say Short Stories. I have nothing against the forum itself, but I haven't posted an SS there in quite a while and have little interest in reading the SSes of other people.At this point, the only reason I really go there is to check on the Ambage topic and also to see if anyone has commented on any of my old SSes. Besides that, I rarely make use of it, although I suppose that could change in the future.Q3: Should the entire Library have a 300 word count minimum? Why or why not? (old question)No. I don't even think the Comedies forum needs the 300 word rule anymore. It's just not necessary. It would hinder a lot of writing if extended to include the rest of the Library, especially flash fiction and poetry.Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)No. I think Velox articulated why that shouldn't be done (for now, anyway).Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?My favorite themes to write about are things like acceptance and intolerance, the ways in which beliefs can reinforce such ideas, what it means to be a good person, and so on. Religion is another theme I typically like to explore, both in fiction writing and in nonfiction writing.I feel like I could explore almost all of those themes better without a Bionicle influence. A lot of species in Bionicle are either all good (Matoran, Agori, Toa, Glatorian, etc.) or all evil (Skakdi, Skrall, Zyglak, Makuta, etc.). Sure, there are some exceptions on all sides, such as Metus and Ahkmou for the Agori and Matoran and Light Teridax for the Makuta, but these races are still portrayed a little too simplistically and I find that restricting, not to mention highly problematic.In my fanfics, I try to mix things up a bit, although I imagine it would be much easier to do so if they weren't Bionicle fanfics. I'm also aware that I fail pretty epically with mixing up this "good vs. evil" thing, too, considering I made my own race of completely evil beings (although to be fair a few of them are actually good and they aren't all evil all the time anyway). I'm trying to improve, though, if that helps.Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)I usually post a new story every few months, I think. What I usually do is prewrite a lot of my stories and then post a bunch of them at the same time, so I'll usually go a few months between postings.Being a member of the ECC, I review once or twice every fortnight. I don't review Comedies and SSes very much, although that could change in the future. Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)All three of the current critics clubs have been very helpful to me, so yes, I do use them and I do find them helpful.Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?As pretty much everyone else has already said, the Ambage is open to writers from all Library forums, not just Short Stories. Ambage-ran contests in Epics and Comedies might be worth looking into, though.Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others? I'm sorry to say, but I can't really think of any of my favorite BZP authors. I unfortunately don't read a lot of fanfics here, even though I post quite a bit.As for ones who inspired me, well, it was Togariku, author of the Comedy My Life with the Bionicles, and a couple other Comedies authors that first inspired me to write Bionicle fanfics, so I'd say they have had more influence on me than any other BZP authors.Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?Not counting my own, there's Fractures by GSR, and My Life with the Bionicles by Togariku from back in the day. There might be others, but those are the only two that come to mind right now.Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?Haven't really noticed a decrease, no.Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?Hmm, I think it could still result in too much randomness and chaos if allowed. If you really want more than one author contributing to your fic, why not make a collaborative fic? Those are allowed.Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic postI can't think of any more questions to add, so yes, I think there are currently enough questions.-TNTOS-

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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt

Great to see some responses here, guys! I figured I'd post my answers now that there are some answers here, so I can also reply to what you guys have to say.

One thing I -would- like to address, however: I know Ambage is for the entire library, I meant to phrase it as saying the Ambage headquarters was inserted into the SS forum, not to mean that it was just for the SS forum since everybody mentioned my phrasing, haha. So, yeah, sorry about that, I should have said that clearer, but note, I did mean to say it in the way you guys stated. I just wanted to clear that up. =]

(however, I didn't know it was for both Epics and Comedies, so to be honest, you can either get rid of the question, or allow me to rephrase it. Since I know this, it'd probably be better to just eliminate it. =/ I'll let you guys decide, though.)

Onto the responses!:

@AEA: Thanks for your comments! ^^

@Velox: I totally agree with you on Comedies. I'll post my comments to build further on what you said a little later in this post, but for now I'll say I agree, haha. (by the way, thanks for the mention. =3)

@Meiko: From what I deducted from your post, you obviously are not very into what's in the Library. However, I can understand that, because honestly, a large fraction of the members here aren't even aware of most of the wonderful stories in the library. I really encourage you to get more involved - you know, try your hand at writing and maybe post a story. But hey, you don't have to write to become more involved. Try reading a story or two, review some stories. There are a lot of writers that really want encouragement and critique on how they can improve. But not just a "hey this is really good 10/10" is enough. The most appreciated reviews are the longer reviews - sure, one over two thousand words long can be outrageous, but it can definitely be appreciated because one person took the time to review a story in detail.

All I'm trying to say is, get more involved! Whether it is writing or reviewing, the people in the Library would greatly appreciate contributions as simple as that. =)

@HH: Epics I actually think is one of the better subforums of the three. It seems to be doing pretty good, and I don't think that any changes should be made. Activity has seemed to increase to me - before I remember when nothing was there. The overall quality of the writing also seems better - but more reports coming from there? I'd think there would have been more from comedies, surprisingly.

Honestly, I disagree with you. In comedies, though those 'high-brow' stories, as you call them, are allowed, they stick out like a sore thumb, as Velox said. I prefer the more serious comedic styles to the 'crazy-fic' stories, because those tend to have more wit. The crazier selection of slapstick stories in comedies now don't really have wit, which is what I'm looking for in the comedies. Comedies, although inviting slapstick at times, should posess a certain amount of wit - what I see now doesn't. Recently I decided to take a look at the stories there, and I didn't see anything witty of the kind. That probably is a very harsh comment, but that's what I saw from my eyes. That's not just stereotyping the stories and saying they're terrible because they're all slapstick.

Comedies can be all slapstick, certainly, and even though what is being done now is all slapstick, it isn't even well done slapstick. I didn't even think you -could- screw up slapstick, but sadly, it's done both poorly and lacking any decent grammar. A decent story would make it so I could look over the spelling errors, but frankly, with nothing to support either, I can't see anything that would make me find anything there even remotely appealing.

(Unfortunately, the crazier stories would stick out in the regular Library forums, too. They stick out as it is in their own forum because they are unlike any other comedic format I've seen, but that can't be changed, I guess. =/)

Plus, I noticed things seem a little jumbled, despite what you said. Since I posted a story there awhile back, I decided to read a few stories there, but I wasn't necessarily impressed - so, I'm not just saying these things to knock the comedies forum in any way, this is truly what I saw. I'd like to see a lot more actually go into that section, if it is going to exist, after all.

I sound harsh, but I really don't mean to be. I'm trying to be moreso honest than cruel, but if cruelty is injected into my words when I'm being honest, so be it. That's certainly just me, though, haha.

No. Mostly because I can see it would stop people from posting poetry. Sure, usually I would say "no" because of the very small amount of poetry in the Library, but having dabbled in poetry in the past, it is not necessarily nonexistant in the Library and, obviously, uses a lot less than three hundred words. I seriously doubt the moderators of the Library would go to the extent of making poetry the exception, but I suppose it depends on their views. If you exclude poetry's existence in the Library, I'd probably still say "no" - Velox's reasoning explains my answer.

Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)

Unfortunately, I said before that I'd say something here when responding to Velox's comments, but I guess not, haha. My resposne to HH's comments should just about sum up my thoughts, though. In short, yes and no - it's difficult to actually give a definite answer, since either way you slice it, the comedies, both 'high-brow' and 'crazy', wouldn't fit in either forum.

Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?

I'll edit and post later. I procrastinate too much, but ahh, well, just as long as I get back to it, haha.

Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)

Definitely not as often as I would like to. Make that a second for the second part of the question as well. =/

Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)

Yes, and I have always found them helpful. If I will go so far as to name some of the critics, some I've often found the best were Velox, Eponine, and Cederak. Even when I don't use the critics clubs, I can still see when reading reviews to other stories that these critics are always very helpful. ^^

Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?

I'll skip this question, mainly because I got half of the question wrong when mentioning Ambage. *sneaks away humiliated*

Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?

Now, -this- I want to answer. There are definitely a few that should be mentioned, and, unfortunately, some of them will be forgotten, but note that it's not like I did it on purpose. Anyhow, to begin with the inspirations:

Lady Kopaka -- Recently I wrote her a review of her old epic, Glitch in the System, to properly review it and tell her how much the story and her writing inspired me. I honestly felt like I was going on a trip down memory lane when I was reading through the old chapters, almost communicating with those characters she had created...when I was younger, it was like she had made a whole world for me to explore and have fun in, a world I could envision clearly in my mind. I craved learning about these characters, until it got to a point where I knew that I could not rely on someone else's characters and story. I wanted to create my own, and her story inspired me to do so - I am proud to say that I have created two epics that have delved into the world that I created.

Her writing, in all honesty, introduced me to new worlds that I would not have known or created myself had she not written her epic, or written at all for that matter. She helped me indirectly to appreciate writing, to write on my own, and to help me imagine my own worlds, not just hers. I owe everything to her.

...Well, maybe twenty to twenty-five percent goes to a few other people that I'm about to mention, but at least seventy-five to eighty percent belongs to her, nonetheless.

Velox -- So, honestly, this was a guy that I haven't really come to know better just in the past few months, and though I've always known he was a terrific writer (he denies it, but, Andrew, it's the honest truth. =]), I've come to respect him more than I ever did before since he's worked very, very hard with Ambage and other projects. I always did respect him and his wonderful writing, but having seen what he's worked on with Ambage (specifically a book with a collection of stories from him and other Ambage members known as X:15, I can see that he has a lot on his plate, but I think it is amazing he's been able to handle it all.

But hey, it's not just that. Let me get on to the more inspiring part (though that is in itself...). He's always been a very talented writer, and his writing, like others, has inspired me. But one of the nicest things he's done for me includes writing a very, very detailed review of my failure of a comedy, Unity, Duty, and Stupidity. It was a big boost for me and a motivator, and truly helped me continue to write my comedy, although it still did go down in flames. It still meant a lot to me, for him to go out of his way to write something like that and let alone even walk into the Comedies forum, since he has a good knowledge of what's actually in there, haha. Still, in all, thanks, Andrew. =)

Eponine -- Mix equal parts crazy, awesome, and huggable (or cat if you prefer, it will get you a similar result, but if you want specifics, try huggable), and you get Eponine, or Aderia. She's a great friend to have around, and has been there for me when I needed her. She's an absolutely amazing writer, and she should never forget that. ;-) I've always felt her writing was very, very inspirational for me, and the majority of her reviews that she's given me have been encouraging. So, just wanted to say thanks, you crazyawesomehuggablecatamazing person. =3

Annnnd this leads me to just listing some names, since I've obviously gone on long enough. Zarayna, Grant-Sud, Tifosi 92, Ezorov, GaliGee, Inferna Firesword, Yukiko, Taka Nuvia (yes, guys, she's a writer, too, and a good one at that), and others that I unfortunately forgot. Darn this stupid memory...

Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?

To make this brief, any stories written by the listed authors above. Specifically speaking, Glitch in the System has always been one of my favorites, if you haven't already figured that out, haha.

Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?

Decreased, definitely. How it could be increased I'm not sure, I'm leaving y'all to give me some input there, since I don't have enough energy to conjure up some suggestions at the moment.

Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?

I have mixed feelings on that. On the one hand, I've never understood why it wasn't allowed in the first place, since it could be great for building a community spirit in the Library, but on the other hand, I realize that it really would just clutter the place. But honestly, by how much? A lot say it would turn into an RPG. If well-organized, I think it would work out well, but the thing is, it seems like it would turn out to become horribly disfigured in the end.

For the people of Ambage, I really like the idea. Actually, it's a suggestion that I think should be taken into consideration by Ced and Velox for Ambage, because that, being a tightly knit together writers group, would really make something amazing out of it. Whether flash-fiction pieces would make up a story or something else, I think it would really work out well. That's just a random addition to my answer, though, apologies.

Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic post)

That's for you guys to decide, haha.

If this post seems jumbled, that mainly has to do with the fact that I've been writing this throughout the day and adding on extra tidbits while editing it. So, it's kind of messy in some parts, and if some responses seem out of order, then that should explain it, haha.

By the way, I strongly encourage those posting here to follow this topic, since it would be nice to keep this alive. I'd really like to see some more opinions about things in the Library, any things that should be discussed, et cetera. So, in all, I really appreciate the comments so far, and I hope to see more! =]

0

On the day the wall came down / They threw the locks onto the groundAnd with glasses high / We raised a cry / For freedom had arrived

On the day the wall came down / The ship of fools had finally run agroundPromises lit up the night / Like paper doves in flight

I dreamed you had left my side / No warmth, not even pride remainedAnd even though you needed me / It was clear that I could not do a thing for you

Now life devalues day by day / As friends and neighbors turn awayAnd there's a change that even with regret / Cannot be undone

Now frontiers shift like desert sands / While nations wash their bloodied handsOf loyalty, of history / In shades of grey

I woke to the sound of drums / The music played, the morning sun streamed inI turned and I looked at you / And all but the bitter residues slipped away

Peach, I don't really feel the need to quote what you said, but I still wanna respond. Everyone has their own views and opinions, so no worries, I enjoy hearing yours on the matter! There's a lot of factors I have to consider when making changes and decisions. The views I have on Comedies and Epics are definitely influenced by the time I've spent there and the changes I've seen over time. However, I want people to know that even if their comedies stick out (and I agree, they definitely do!), they shouldn't be afraid to post them. Like I said in my first post, I'm brainstorming and working on some changes in Comedies. I've already been working on Epics in the past year, and it's coming closer to where I'd like it, but it's still going to take time now that those changes are in place. None of this has to do with activity levels, it's more about community dynamics. Hopefully that makes sense.

In regards to the whole Library, it's constantly being molded to suit the current demands from both members, admins, the overall site, and even the server, so my "favorite" and "least favorite" changes very often. I really love the whole Library, and that's why I'm tough on it and I don't let myself relax or become complacent in regards to it. But yeah, it's good to have the thoughts of others for consideration! So, even if I disagree initially, I still remember and consider different views.

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?

[color=#008080;]Comedies. It's my domain, and has been for just over four years now. I'm not leaving it yet. I have friends in the forum, I'm in charge of a critics club, I'm part of the atrociously named federation, I help organize the expos where everyone shows off wicked awesome stuff, and I'm the author of a rather large series that has been written since December 2010 and is still in progress - which plenty of members still enjoy reading. Comedies is, quite frankly, a warmer and more welcoming crowd than SS, Epics or even the Ambage, and even better, the forum knows how to take a joke lightly without resorting to mindless insults, and even better than that, the folks in Comedies understand why the forum is there while nobody else does.[/color]

I was hoping you would come in and post your thoughts about the Comedies forum. I really love the work you're doing in there with CCC; you guys all have really great attitudes and are doing awesome things for the forum.

[color=#008080;]Thank you! We try, although sometimes I think we don't try hard enough. I'm currently thinking about ways I might change up the CCC, and I think the Federation needs some serious reworking, since it doesn't really do anything right now.[/color]

Epics I actually think is one of the better subforums of the three. It seems to be doing pretty good, and I don't think that any changes should be made. Activity has seemed to increase to me - before I remember when nothing was there. The overall quality of the writing also seems better - but more reports coming from there? I'd think there would have been more from comedies, surprisingly.

Honestly, I disagree with you. In comedies, though those 'high-brow' stories, as you call them, are allowed, they stick out like a sore thumb, as Velox said. I prefer the more serious comedic styles to the 'crazy-fic' stories, because those tend to have more wit. The crazier selection of slapstick stories in comedies now don't really have wit, which is what I'm looking for in the comedies. Comedies, although inviting slapstick at times, should posess a certain amount of wit - what I see now doesn't. Recently I decided to take a look at the stories there, and I didn't see anything witty of the kind. That probably is a very harsh comment, but that's what I saw from my eyes. That's not just stereotyping the stories and saying they're terrible because they're all slapstick.

Comedies can be all slapstick, certainly, and even though what is being done now is all slapstick, it isn't even well done slapstick. I didn't even think you -could- screw up slapstick, but sadly, it's done both poorly and lacking any decent grammar. A decent story would make it so I could look over the spelling errors, but frankly, with nothing to support either, I can't see anything that would make me find anything there even remotely appealing.

(Unfortunately, the crazier stories would stick out in the regular Library forums, too. They stick out as it is in their own forum because they are unlike any other comedic format I've seen, but that can't be changed, I guess. =/)

Plus, I noticed things seem a little jumbled, despite what you said. Since I posted a story there awhile back, I decided to read a few stories there, but I wasn't necessarily impressed - so, I'm not just saying these things to knock the comedies forum in any way, this is truly what I saw. I'd like to see a lot more actually go into that section, if it is going to exist, after all.

I sound harsh, but I really don't mean to be. I'm trying to be moreso honest than cruel, but if cruelty is injected into my words when I'm being honest, so be it. That's certainly just me, though, haha.

[color=#008080;]Is it okay for words to be cruel despite honesty? I don't know. There are ways to be honest without being cruel, but I'm not one to lecture the use of words, and it's everyone that can be at fault. Goodness knows how often I've looked at one of my blog entries or posts and cringed. =P[/color]

[color=#008080;]With the reports bit - your expectation and belief that more reports should come from Comedies shows a bias that is within many member's minds - that bias being that Comedies is of exceptionally poor quality all the time, and would thusly have more reports. However, two points:[/color]

[color=#008080;]Reports are not made based on the quality of a story. Reports are made regarding a breaking of the rules. The issue then regarding the reports is not the quality within Comedies that you find lacking, but rather that Epics might be undergoing a rough point or that Comedies might simply be going through a high point in regards to following the site rules. Judging from the latest post in the ECC topic, the charity reviews have not been entirely accepted - I don't know the entire issue, but as far as I'm aware the influx of reports from Epics might have come from members who didn't feel that their charity review was up to snuff.[/color]

[color=#008080;]The bias towards Comedies has been in place probably since the dawn of BZPower, but I understand that it has been worse since 2007. There is a belief - even amongst the Ambage! - that every comedy on this forum is of the script format (a very baseline script it may be, lacking features perhaps, but still a script). This belief also insinuates that every comedy has an overuse of emoticons in replacement of real words, and that every comedy lacks subtlety.[/color]

[color=#008080;]This second point is where I and other prose writers of the Comedies forum start to feel insulted, for you are completely overlooking us as writers. Yes, I have written script comedies, yes I have used the occasional emoticon, yes I have used slapstick humour. Why does this automatically mean that I am a bad writer? Why is the newcomer to the forum a bad writer? They might be writing the only way they feel they know how. I used it as an experiment with a different style of humour than I was used to writing. When used right, an emoticon can enhance the humour of a situation, though I agree this should be a rare occasion within a story. However, even amongst the admittedly large number of script comedies, I do know a few that never use emoticons at all, yet they are needlessly looped in with what other members consider "the worst of the worst" due to their nature as a script comedy.[/color]

[color=#008080;]You also stated "all Comedies is right now is slapstick". One definition of slapstick:[/color]

Aboisterous comedy with chases and collisions and practical jokes

[color=#008080;]Another definition is a comedy that involves horseplay, so in a sense, physical comedy. It's absurd to believe that this is the type of humour every comedy on this forum relies on. You just need to read the right comedies, whether you end up liking them or not.[/color]

[color=#008080;]As for being jumbled, is not every forum jumbled? You could say the same thing about Epics, Blogs, RPG, COT, OTC. That’s the nature of a forum – the topics aren’t going to be lined up and categorized, they are going to be up to date, each topic similar to the others only in the similarities brought upon by the restrictions of that particular forum.[/color]

[color=#008080;]Anyway, I think that’s enough for my opinion on the matters of Comedies. Everyone has shared their thoughts so many times at this point that the issue itself is becoming rather tiring.[/color]

[color=#008080;]Thank you! We try, although sometimes I think we don't try hard enough. I'm currently thinking about ways I might change up the CCC, and I think the Federation needs some serious reworking, since it doesn't really do anything right now.[/color]

(If you need any help with this, or even brainstorming help, you can definitely drop me a line.)

(however, I didn't know it was for both Epics and Comedies, so to be honest, you can either get rid of the question, or allow me to rephrase it. Since I know this, it'd probably be better to just eliminate it. =/ I'll let you guys decide, though.)

Well it seemed like a lot of people started talking about possibly branching out more into Epics/Comedies from the Ambage, so you could always just rephrase the question to something like that. =]

(Unfortunately, the crazier stories would stick out in the regular Library forums, too. They stick out as it is in their own forum because they are unlike any other comedic format I've seen, but that can't be changed, I guess. =/)

Right, and there seems to be a problem with that...one way or another, some stories will stick out. But I wonder if there's a possible solution to that. And since I expect the rest of my post to be quite long, I'm going to bold this: What if "serious" comedies were allowed in the SSs/Epics forum? So "Comedies" wouldn't now define a genre (being different from any other forum, as it's the only genre that has its own forum), but instead it would define a "style" -- the style with emoticons and "script", etc.? I'm kind of just curious as to what other people think of that idea. I mean, this is the LDT, so...discuss away. =P So basically, it'd be up to the author. This way, people could write normal short stories that are comedic, and post them in short stories. Of course, there'd be some "official limits" -- like I said, emotes and the non-script many people use, etc. -- but for prose stories, it'd mostly just be up to the authors? So again, this way, "Comedies" would just be another "style", rather than a genre -- it'd fit better with SSs/Epics that way, IMO. It really wouldn't change that much, because there's only a small, small handful of stories that wouldn't be in Comedies.

Still, in all, thanks, Andrew. =)

Wow, thank you so much for that. You're definitely very welcome! Let me know if there's ever anything else I can do. As you know I'm on Skype like all the time haha.

For the people of Ambage, I really like the idea. Actually, it's a suggestion that I think should be taken into consideration by Ced and Velox for Ambage, because that, being a tightly knit together writers group, would really make something amazing out of it. Whether flash-fiction pieces would make up a story or something else, I think it would really work out well. That's just a random addition to my answer, though, apologies.

Yeah, definitely! As I've said we always welcome suggestions and ideas other people may have. But man, haha, we literally have so many things planned that we'd like to do some day. Who knows if we'll ever get around to having enough time to set them all up/run them, but hopefully some day. I do definitely like this idea, though. We'd have to get permission, of course, and we'd have to be able to do it and everything, but I'll run it by the other hosts. =]

With the reports bit - your expectation and belief that more reports should come from Comedies shows a bias that is within many member's minds - that bias being that Comedies is of exceptionally poor quality all the time, and would thusly have more reports.

Well...some biases are true. =P Now I'm just saying, in my time being in the Library, I've always found the most things to report in Comedies. I'll be perfectly honest, though: I haven't reported anything from there in a while. Possibly partially because I haven't even been in there much recently as I've been so busy with other things, Honestly recently the things I've reported most are when some Epic review topics get a little chatty. All the same...overall definitely a very large majority has always been with Comedies. So it's fair to assume that it'll be that way in the future -- might not be the case necessarily, but yeah. It's always surprising when somethings not how it used to be. =P Of course I'm only speaking from personal experience. I haven't always received all the reports in the library -- as an FM I did, but now I only see the SSs ones. But from what I, personally, have seen, this has been my experience.

Reports are not made based on the quality of a story. Reports are made regarding a breaking of the rules. The issue then regarding the reports is not the quality within Comedies that you find lacking, but rather that Epics might be undergoing a rough point or that Comedies might simply be going through a high point in regards to following the site rules. Judging from the latest post in the ECC topic, the charity reviews have not been entirely accepted - I don't know the entire issue, but as far as I'm aware the influx of reports from Epics might have come from members who didn't feel that their charity review was up to snuff.

That still doesn't change anything...Comedies hasn't been reported in a lot because of its quality, but because of the replies. Now I just said that I've begun to see that more in Epics and less in Comedies, but again, it's surprising. Just because it's been one way for so long. So basically I'm trying to figure out the point here...because you're right, things have high points and low points, but Comedies has been one way for a long time -- why wouldn't that be surprising when that changes? Regarding the ECC, really there's nothing people need to know besides what was posted in the open letter, I don't think. But since I do know the details, I will say this: "Up to snuff" implies that they're not good or in-depth enough, but that definitely wasn't the problem at all. Also, every club is not without their faults, and those matters really shouldn't be brought up like that. Not only could it rub people the wrong way, but it opens up the rest of the clubs to criticism. Trust me when I say that certain clubs have a lot more faults to point out than others, and I really don't think those should be pointed out in this topic -- it's just in poor taste. But that's really that all needs to be said on that point, so I'll move on:

The bias towards Comedies has been in place probably since the dawn of BZPower, but I understand that it has been worse since 2007. There is a belief - even amongst the Ambage! - that every comedy on this forum is of the script format (a very baseline script it may be, lacking features perhaps, but still a script). This belief also insinuates that every comedy has an overuse of emoticons in replacement of real words, and that every comedy lacks subtlety.

I'm not sure where you get that from, especially because it's been acknowledged -- many, many times -- by people from the Ambage, that only most Comedies are in the so-called "script" format. But really, it's not even really "baseline script" because the only quality it shares with script is that it has people's names. And again, many, many Comedies do in fact use emoticons. Not every single one, no, but no one's saying that. It's just, most.

This second point is where I and other prose writers of the Comedies forum start to feel insulted, for you are completely overlooking us as writers. Yes, I have written script comedies, yes I have used the occasional emoticon, yes I have used slapstick humour. Why does this automatically mean that I am a bad writer? Why is the newcomer to the forum a bad writer? They might be writing the only way they feel they know how. I used it as an experiment with a different style of humour than I was used to writing. When used right, an emoticon can enhance the humour of a situation, though I agree this should be a rare occasion within a story. However, even amongst the admittedly large number of script comedies, I do know a few that never use emoticons at all, yet they are needlessly looped in with what other members consider "the worst of the worst" due to their nature as a script comedy.

I'm not sure where you're getting that from, but if I ever implied that you're a bad writer, I apologize. I will, however, say again what I remember saying before: Emoticons and the format of most comedies in the Comedies forum isn't serious writing in my opinion. It doesn't mean that automatically those people are bad writers -- not at all. The problem with emoticons is that they're not writing. Sure, they might be funnier, but they're still not serious writing. Because they're not writing -- they're images. But that's my whole point -- serious writing isn't about creating a mood any way possible, but using words to create that mood. I'm not disagreeing that emoticons may be more effective or easier, though, but it's still mixing writing with non-writing. What I don't get though, is if a story doesn't use emoticons, then why wouldn't it be in actual script format? You say non-emote stories are thrown in with the rest, but well, again, they're exactly what people are talking about: not actual script, even if they don't have emotes. Of course, though, people have different opinions and liking, and that's fine -- I'm not trying to say yours are wrong, I'm just saying that we obviously have different opinions. =P

Right, and there seems to be a problem with that...one way or another, some stories will stick out. But I wonder if there's a possible solution to that. And since I expect the rest of my post to be quite long, I'm going to bold this: What if "serious" comedies were allowed in the SSs/Epics forum? So "Comedies" wouldn't now define a genre (being different from any other forum, as it's the only genre that has its own forum), but instead it would define a "style" -- the style with emoticons and "script", etc.? I'm kind of just curious as to what other people think of that idea. I mean, this is the LDT, so...discuss away. =P So basically, it'd be up to the author. This way, people could write normal short stories that are comedic, and post them in short stories. Of course, there'd be some "official limits" -- like I said, emotes and the non-script many people use, etc. -- but for prose stories, it'd mostly just be up to the authors? So again, this way, "Comedies" would just be another "style", rather than a genre -- it'd fit better with SSs/Epics that way, IMO. It really wouldn't change that much, because there's only a small, small handful of stories that wouldn't be in Comedies.

Today I investigated Comedies out to be absolutely certain of this: currently, only 11 of the 25 stories on the first page of Comedies are written in script form. The rest are in prose, and the authors seem to be taking their writing seriously, as do many of the script-writers. The first page reflects replies given since early January. The second page of Comedies is pretty even this way (prose vs script), as well. Given this fact, Comedies will be staying as it is. I feel that having three separate forums is still necessary, especially given the individual interests of the writers who frequent the forums. Of course everyone's still welcome to discuss their ideas! But if you have a story that's primarily humorous, it will continue to belong in Comedies.

If you feel your story is "too serious" for Comedies, perhaps you ought to look through the forum before making any assumptions. I'm not accusing anyone here of thinking themselves to be "better" or "more serious" about writing than others, but I know that is an attitude that has been present in a percentage of BZP authors since I first joined the site. It is an attitude that is always troubling, and I hope no Library patron will allow themselves to carry it.

Today I investigated Comedies out to be absolutely certain of this: currently, only 11 of the 25 stories on the first page of Comedies are written in script form. The rest are in prose, and the authors seem to be taking their writing seriously, as do many of the script-writers. The first page reflects replies given since early January. The second page of Comedies is pretty even this way (prose vs script), as well. Given this fact, Comedies will be staying as it is. I feel that having three separate forums is still necessary, especially given the individual interests of the writers who frequent the forums. Of course everyone's still welcome to discuss their ideas! But if you have a story that's primarily humorous, it will continue to belong in Comedies.

Yes, I realize that -- I visit the Comedies forum multiple times every day. I wasn't suggesting that Comedies be changed -- as I said, I was merely asking what people thought about the idea and since it's a discussion topic, that people could discuss the idea.

If you feel your story is "too serious" for Comedies, perhaps you ought to look through the forum before making any assumptions. I'm not accusing anyone here of thinking themselves to be "better" or "more serious" about writing than others, but I know that is an attitude that has been present in a percentage of BZP authors since I first joined the site. It is an attitude that is always troubling, and I hope no Library patron will allow themselves to carry it.

I think you may have misinterpreted what I was trying to ask. I don't often write humorous stories -- I wasn't asking for myself, because I'm not planning on writing any comedic stories, but rather, I was asking what people thought of the idea, as people mentioned that there are differences. For example, in the anthology that the Ambage recently published, there are a couple of stories in there that are comedic. But at the same time, i don't feel like they'd fit with the rest of the stories there. Not because they're "better" or "more serious" than the others, but they're just different. I'm not really sure how else to explain it, but just that. For an example in literature, the Dresden Files are, in my opinion, quite comedic. But (assuming they were Bionicle) they wouldn't really fit with the Comedies forum, because they're not completely comedic. Whereas a movie like Groundhog Day would. So that's all that I was talking about. Because what if you have a serious story with a comedic voice to it? It would fit better with short stories -- even including the prose comedies -- but could, technically, be considered a "comedy." So I was asking what people thought about that -- not that Comedies needs to be changed or all prose stories should be moved to SSs/Epics, not at all. But the thing is, if I were to write a comedy, I wouldn't mind posting it in Comedies. But my whole point was that, depending on the type of comedic story I wrote, it would stand out. For example, Cederak's comedy. It stands out to me. Not in a bad way, not in a good way, but just simply, it stands out. Like you said, there's individual interests in the writers of the three forums, and that's all I'm talking about.

Today I investigated Comedies out to be absolutely certain of this: currently, only 11 of the 25 stories on the first page of Comedies are written in script form. The rest are in prose, and the authors seem to be taking their writing seriously, as do many of the script-writers. The first page reflects replies given since early January. The second page of Comedies is pretty even this way (prose vs script), as well. Given this fact, Comedies will be staying as it is. I feel that having three separate forums is still necessary, especially given the individual interests of the writers who frequent the forums. Of course everyone's still welcome to discuss their ideas! But if you have a story that's primarily humorous, it will continue to belong in Comedies.

Yes, I realize that -- I visit the Comedies forum multiple times every day. I wasn't suggesting that Comedies be changed -- as I said, I was merely asking what people thought about the idea and since it's a discussion topic, that people could discuss the idea.

If you feel your story is "too serious" for Comedies, perhaps you ought to look through the forum before making any assumptions. I'm not accusing anyone here of thinking themselves to be "better" or "more serious" about writing than others, but I know that is an attitude that has been present in a percentage of BZP authors since I first joined the site. It is an attitude that is always troubling, and I hope no Library patron will allow themselves to carry it.

I think you may have misinterpreted what I was trying to ask. I don't often write humorous stories -- I wasn't asking for myself, because I'm not planning on writing any comedic stories, but rather, I was asking what people thought of the idea, as people mentioned that there are differences. For example, in the anthology that the Ambage recently published, there are a couple of stories in there that are comedic. But at the same time, i don't feel like they'd fit with the rest of the stories there. Not because they're "better" or "more serious" than the others, but they're just different. I'm not really sure how else to explain it, but just that. For an example in literature, the Dresden Files are, in my opinion, quite comedic. But (assuming they were Bionicle) they wouldn't really fit with the Comedies forum, because they're not completely comedic. Whereas a movie like Groundhog Day would. So that's all that I was talking about. Because what if you have a serious story with a comedic voice to it? It would fit better with short stories -- even including the prose comedies -- but could, technically, be considered a "comedy." So I was asking what people thought about that -- not that Comedies needs to be changed or all prose stories should be moved to SSs/Epics, not at all. But the thing is, if I were to write a comedy, I wouldn't mind posting it in Comedies. But my whole point was that, depending on the type of comedic story I wrote, it would stand out. For example, Cederak's comedy. It stands out to me. Not in a bad way, not in a good way, but just simply, it stands out. Like you said, there's individual interests in the writers of the three forums, and that's all I'm talking about.

The "you"s in my post were referring to everyone-you, not you-you. And yes, stories that are overall very funny belong in Comedies, while those that are just somewhat humorous but mostly serious still belong in either SS or Epics. If anyone ever needs help determining which forum it belongs in, they can PM it to me and I can look it over.

You know, we had a whole thing in the BBC forum like a decade ago where a bunch of us "serious" MOCists (and we made up that term to distinguish ourselves from the regular MOCers) decided to give super serious and detailed reviews pointing out all the flaws of MOCs that people who were not serious MOC builders (or were, you know, ten or eleven), because they "weren't as good as we are and so they need to be better".

Know what happened? It was shut down and the leader was banned.

Moral of the story: Just because you take something "seriously" and think you are a higher-quality whatever than others, doesn't mean you get to decide what is good and what isn't, who is talented and who isn't, and what belongs and what doesn't. This whole topic is kind of an embarrassment to BZP and the Library, to be honest.

Like why would any aspiring writer ever want to post in the BZP library again after reading through this topic?

Hahaha, whoops. XD I knew I had misspoken somewhere... I used to read every single post in Comedies regularly. Now, I still skim most posts, but I haven't actually read any of the comedies in a while. I hope that makes sense. XD I'm slightly OCD about having every topic in the Library set as "read", so even if I don't read word-for-word, I still skim all the posts in every topic. But honestly I'm not sure what the rest of your post is about...I specifically stated several times that I wasn't saying I was better than anyone else. I think you completely misunderstood what I was saying, but if I sounded like I was saying I was better than anyone else, I apologize -- that was not my intent at all. As I stated before, I was having trouble explaining my thoughts on the matter, so I may have misspoken with that. But again, I didn't mean to say that I was better than anyone else. I'd be happy to clear up any specific points if you want, but I hope this clears it up somewhat. =]

But honestly I'm not sure what the rest of your post is about...I specifically stated several times that I wasn't saying I was better than anyone else. I think you completely misunderstood what I was saying, but if I sounded like I was saying I was better than anyone else, I apologize -- that was not my intent at all. As I stated before, I was having trouble explaining my thoughts on the matter, so I may have misspoken with that. But again, I didn't mean to say that I was better than anyone else. I'd be happy to clear up any specific points if you want, but I hope this clears it up somewhat. =]

I don't really feel like starting any sort of argument, but really, you guys are really going to claim that you aren't implying that the Ambage is a group of serious writers, and that so many other writers in these forums aren't? You flat out said that the Ambage writers made good comedies, but that the comedy forum is terrible, and because it's terrible, the Ambage writers don't feel "comfortable" posting these "wonderful" comedies there?

I mean, you are a writer. You should be aware that you don't have to say something explicitly to actually say it. And sometimes the meta-narrative comes through in a way the author didn't intend or mean, but that's the narrative you guys are weaving. The Ambage is for serious writers and you are all more talented and better and that's why you give "charity" reviews to those poor, less-talented, less-able writers to help them become as good as you.

It may not be your intent, but that's the narrative that is being woven into every post you guys are making. And come on, I led that assault on the BBC all those years ago, I know what this looks like. We did the exact same thing. We made the exact same arguments.

And again, if that's not your intent, you need to step back and look at what you've said in here. Because that is how you come across, and if you don't want to come across that way, and if you don't actually feel that way, then you need to stop and change what you're saying, and how you're saying it.

DV, I'm not exactly sure where you're getting that from, but if you're referring to when I said "different", I'll just copy/paste what Hahli Husky said because she said it better than I did:

There used to be a lot of "high-brow" type comedies in the forum, along with your usual "crazy-fic" stuff (that's what I call it, anyway) that dominates the forum now. I imagine that GSR, Marlon Brando, and Cederak's stories, which Velox mentioned above, are like those old "high-brow" comedies.

Again, I'm not saying they're better or anything, I'm just saying that they're -different-. Like slapstick vs. dark humor, for example. And also, Cederak did post his comedy there. The other two didn't, but they're not Bionicle fics.

And I think you may have misunderstood the critics clubs (which aren't affiliated with the Ambage) -- the charity reviews there are giving reviews to everyone. Even our own critics. So we're not doing it to people we think are "lower", we're just trying to get the forums more active, and to help each other out. Whenever I post a story, I want as many reviews as possible, and I know others feel the same way, so we do exactly that -- just give more reviews to everyone.

If that's really how I came across, again I apologize. I didn't mean to at all. I really, truly do apologize for sounding that way.

I would just like to say that there a few authors in the library who really need to think about what it is they say and believe about writing. Many of the writers who many of us look up to and aspire to be like--were mavericks. People who bucked the status quo who refused to be one of those 'arrogant ivy tower' writers.

I'm not saying that anyone here is being that, but the fact remains that even a universal favourite on BZP, Galigee got her start in comedies. And her comedies were uproariously funny while still maintaining some great wit. This entire thing that some writers or some styles of writing that are less deserving or worthy than other authors or styles is ridiculously offensive and smacks of privilege and arrogance.

Also I'm kind of curious as to why this topic even exists. I mean it's great to talk about the experiences people who have in the library (though I'll say that the tone set in this topic is a combative one that makes me never want to visit the library again) but as for asking questions on improving the library? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't all suggestions for improvement supposed to be PMed to the forum leader who runs that forum? Why don't we have an RPG discussion topic? Or a Blog Discussion Topic? Why is the Library so special that it gets this all to itself, when it clearly goes against what has been set as a guideline since BZP's inception.

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]Well, I think I understand where Velox is coming from, however I do disagree.[/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]Let's start by breaking this down a bit to keep this clear, consistent and logical.[/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]What Velox seems to be suggesting is not that any Comedy is "better" than any other, like a few of you seem to be thinking. In fact, I found Hahli Husky's and Velox's posts to be the only ones that were really mature, rational and helpful to this topic and for my understanding of the situation (I just saw a bunch of complaining going around, so I wanted to see what was up, as I was curious). [/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]Basically, the specific Comedies that Velox is proposing to move to SS/Epics are not "better" than the others. They are merely different. I believe he means "different in style" as he has pointed out in his earlier posts. Now, what does that mean, exactly? That has been left vague in my opinion, so let me try and explain how I see it.[/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]Take General Artwork for instance. The forum is filled with many forms of artwork; Paintings, Oil Pastels, Digital mediums, Sketches, 3D paper masks, etc. Each type of artwork I have listed off is of a different style. That's not to say, for example, that 3D paper masks are "better" than say an oil pastel. The art mediums are merely different. Now, say the 3D paper mask is of an Avohkii and the oil pastel is of the same mask. Both are very similar, however they share a key concept which is different. Of course, in this example there is no way to compare by opinion which piece of artwork the viewer prefers, as I have no clue which comedies are being mentioned. However, it is undeniable that the two mediums are different. [/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]Now, let's look at how stories may be carried differently. Dark humor, where the audience is made tense or is given a feeling of fear, only to have the mood change drastically (say they're relieved that whatever caused the tension in the story and so they laugh, or if characters are taking a serious matter lightly) is far different from, say, physical comedy (a character slips on a banana peel and falls). They are both different, yet fall into the spectrum of "Comedy." I believe these were the differences Velox was trying to point out. Perhaps he believe some cases of "dark humor" that deal with serious matters should be taken more seriously? I can't speak for him, but that's an example that comes to mind.[/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]However, in my example both pieces of artwork fall in General Art. The forum is meant for art in all of its forms, as I believe the Comedies forum is intended for Comedies in all of its forms. Basically, if a writer intends his or her story to be taken humorously, obviously it would be posted in Comedies. If the writer wishes for the story to be built mainly on other purposes for writing (getting a point across, entertainment which is not humor, etc) then likely it would fall into a more "serious" demeanor and be placed in Short Stories or Epics depending on whether or not it is a continued story or one-shot. [/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]I, personally, don't want to get into nit-picking of what defines a comedy and what defines a "serious" tone of a story. That is why I'd prefer to keep stories that are designed to make the reader laugh in Comedies instead of blurring the line. That is my personal opinion, which is not correct or incorrect in nature, but an opinion (I think this may have been Hahli Husky's intentions; to keep the separation of genre in the library simple and easy). I doubt changing things around would be worth the effort in this case, as many disagreements are bound to arise. [/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]However, I saw no need to call out any groups such as the Epic Critics Club (which is separate from the Ambage entirely) or to harass a group on BZPower which is for any member that wishes to join and be active. I find such behavior to be highly disrespectful, rude and unproductive in this topic.[/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]However, in my example both pieces of artwork fall in General Art. The forum is meant for art in all of its forms, as I believe the Comedies forum is intended for Comedies in all of its forms. Basically, if a writer intends his or her story to be taken humorously, obviously it would be posted in Comedies. If the writer wishes for the story to be built mainly on other purposes for writing (getting a point across, entertainment which is not humor, etc) then likely it would fall into a more "serious" demeanor and be placed in Short Stories or Epics depending on whether or not it is a continued story or one-shot. [/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]I, personally, don't want to get into nit-picking of what defines a comedy and what defines a "serious" tone of a story. That is why I'd prefer to keep stories that are designed to make the reader laugh in Comedies instead of blurring the line. That is my personal opinion, which is not correct or incorrect in nature, but an opinion (I think this may have been Hahli Husky's intentions; to keep the separation of genre in the library simple and easy). I doubt changing things around would be worth the effort in this case, as many disagreements are bound to arise. [/color]

^ This. ^ Thank you, Tekulo.

I think the part of my post that said what I've put in bold ...

Given this fact, Comedies will be staying as it is. I feel that having three separate forums is still necessary, especially given the individual interests of the writers who frequent the forums. Of course everyone's still welcome to discuss their ideas! But if you have a story that's primarily humorous, it will continue to belong in Comedies.

... was overlooked. I wanted to let people know that they can discuss it all they like, since that's fair, but the dynamic of the three forums and the content thereof is not changing.

However.

This topic has been upsetting to say the least. I don't think there's a problem with people discussing their personal experiences in a forum. I don't really have a problem with people giving their personal suggestions on policies that Library staff have chosen to employ. What bothers me is when people assume they know what's best for the Library despite their experience, or lack thereof, in any combination of its subforums. Before anybody gets a heated head at my previous sentence and skims the rest of my post to jump to conclusions, stop and listen.I am not specifically calling out anybody here, and I am not implying that I am, and I am not intending to.

WHAT I MEAN IS: The attitude of this topic overall has really smacked of such assumption, and even the last Library topic had this issue. And it made me very upset, and it made me feel like people were not taking me seriously as a Global Forum Leader and as the leader of the Library. Sure, I honestly enjoying hearing others' opinions on the Library, because I'm always working to improve it. I'm also very grateful to people such as DV and Janus, who understand my feelings and felt that they ought to add their thoughts. A lot of this discussion is rooted in past aggravations and hurt feelings that already existed.

After my post here, things are going to change in this topic. Immediately.

I'm totally fine with people continuing to take the quiz that Peach made for members. That's why this topic is staying open. However, after this, if I see anyone directly or indirectly insulting:

- The Ambage

- Comedies writers

- ECC

- SSCC

- CCC

- Any other Library writers

I will be taking action. This is against BZP policy and I cannot condone such behavior. If you have a problem with the Ambage, any of the Critic's Clubs, please PM their curators. If you don't feel comfortable doing so, PM me instead. If you have a problem with any of the policies in the Library, you will PM me.

I also suggest that, before you state something about the Library, make sure your knowledge is up-to-date. If you can't be current, just don't say anything. For instance, the only people who are currently reviewing all the Library reports are admins, globals, and mentors. And before you openly disagree with what someone says about any of the forums, maybe you'd better check out the situation there first. The style and trends in every BZP forum changes with each year, so just because something was a certain way 3 years ago doesn't mean it's that way now. People not researching their "facts" first has also been a problem in this topic.

Thank you for your understanding, and I request that we step back to the intention of this topic now. If those in charge of GD would just rather close this topic than let it continue on, please respect their decision.

[color=#006400;]Well, with that said, I think I'll take that quiz now. [/color]

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]I guess I'd have to say Short Stories. It's a nice place to post some quick stories that I write about Bionicle, and the contests there have been fun. I also like reading the occasional stories here and there.[/color]

Q2: Least favorite subforum?

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]I really don't have a least favorite. At least, I don't see any reason why one in particular would be worse than the other. I've made Epics and Comedies before (both old and new) and in both forums I've received feedback on my works (none of which were immature or unwanted). [/color]

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]I think it stands to reason. In my opinion 300 words is a very easy goal to meet. This also helps prevent single-sentence stories or something along the lines of "continue the story" topics from arising. [/color]

Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)

[color=#006400;]I see no reason to merge them. I think the current division works fine as-is.[/color]

Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?

[color=#006400;]I like writing about relationships (non-romantic generally) between characters the most. There's plenty of room for me to work with such a theme in the Bionicle universe as we've seen many characters who were developed in the story. In fact, I actually think personal relationships between the Bionicle characters was a bit watered down in the canon story, so I think it's the perfect theme for the fans to interpret as they see fit.[/color]

Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)

[color=#006400;]Well, I'm not always active on BZPower, so I normally post a story every now and then (it depends on real life factors as well, so it's difficult for me to give a good ballpark here). The same goes for me reviewing stories. Though, I do post stories more often than review, generally. [/color]

Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)

[color=#006400;]Yes, I have. When I recently started my second epic on BZP (the first was many years ago), it didn't get much feedback. In fact, I'd posted the epic elsewhere and gotten faster replies from readers and suggestions. That's why I went to the ECC. They gave me a full, in-depth review on two separate occasions, so it was great to hear what other Bionicle fans thought (the replies I got elsewhere were mostly from people who weren't strong Bionicle fans, so they would get confused on some of the terminology). The reviews themselves were very insightful, and though I didn't always agree with what the reviewer had to say, I still appreciated a fresh opinion about my writing. I consider that to be very helpful.[/color]

Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?

[color=#006400;]I have, in recent history, joined the Ambage. As far as I can tell, it's full of a bunch of members on BZP who just like to write, so they write together and review each others' stories. It's a great way to get feedback and to connect with other members of BZP who might want to do a collaborative project. [/color]

[color=#006400;]Though, Ambage is just about writing in general, and is more off topic than Bionicle themed. If a group of writers wish to do something similar, but with a different theme in mind (say, a group of writers that work with Bionicle themes specifically), then anyone could create such a group. [/color]

Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?

[color=#006400;]I enjoy reading multiple authors on the site, like Alex Humva, Velox, Cederak, Hahli Historian, Aderia, GSR, Nuile, Kraggh, etc. When I read others' stories, though, my mind is set to review, so I can't say how much their works have inspired my own. I do think my writing has been influenced by others, but I have not taken a direct notice of who or how, so it's hard to tell.[/color]

Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?

[color=#006400;]SPIRIT's old movie spoofs are a definite favorite of mine. I haven't checked out too many epics at this point, though a few do stick out in my memory. Unfortunately I don't quite remember them. A few works by GSR and Aderia pop into my mind as well, although I don't remember their titles. [/color]

Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?

[color=#006400;]The activity has felt slowly ever since I posted my Epic. However, that was a while ago, so I'm not too sure how things are at the moment in any of the forums. [/color]

Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?

[color=#006400;]I'm not a big fan of this idea to be honest. Those stories tend to wind up pretty goofy and nonsensical in my experience. If anyone can contribute, any plot twist can take place in the story, and that's how things can get confusing. A few could be fun, but if it catches on and the Library clutters with Round-Robin stories that lack logic, then it would be... problematic in my opinion. [/color]

Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic post

[color=rgb(0,100,0);]They seem fine as-is for now. There are a lot of valid questions and they actually make me want to write something. XD[/color]

Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?My favorite Library subforum is definitely Short Stories, mainly because the stories aren't too long and don't require days to read and analyze, and because writing a short story isn't as painstaking as writing an epic. I don't mean to portray myself as lazy; I just think Short Stories is a nifty little subforum overall.Q2: Least favorite subforum?I don't really want to go with the flow and say Comedies, but the forum has never really attracted me due to the fact that very few works I read took themselves seriously at all. I don't mean to judge every comedy author, because I haven't visited the forum recently and am not familiar with how it is currently faring, but I think the somewhat blurry barrier separating a humorous short story from a serious comedy is one of the causes behind some of the more ridiculous narratives in the Comedies forum.I will say that I have read good comedies, though, and that I don't mind some of the more ridiculous ones. I'm not even annoyed by the script comedy format per se, only its perceived overuse (which, again, may have changed since I last frequented the forum).Q3: Should the entire Library have a 300 word count minimum? Why or why not?I don't think the entire Library should have a three hundred word count minimum. First, good flash fiction can fall under that word limit; second, poetry is often quite short, and I wouldn't want the Library to discourage short poems.Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not?If Comedies were merged with the rest of the library, we would enter a scenario where ridiculous stories and serious stories coexist in the same sub-forum, which means readers would have to dig through one sort to find the other.Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?I'm particularly attracted to writing grim stories and bittersweet endings. I base a lot of my stories on such vague concepts as hope, loss, desire, and moral conflict; I rarely flirt with romance (pun unintended), and when I do include it in a story, it's generally restricted to a background role.Writing Bionicle fan-fiction never inhibited my ability to write -- in fact, it fostered it to the point where I now try my hand at original fiction -- so while I would have more freedom writing original fiction above some of the aforementioned themes, I don't think any of them would be too diluted if I wrote a good piece of Bionicle fan-fiction.Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories?At the moment, I'm quite inactive both writing- and reviewing-wise.Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful?I think the critics clubs, altogether, seem quite helpful. I've asked the critics club for Short Stories for reviews a few times in the past and received sound critiques; even the couple of charity reviews I've garnered when the Short Stories Critics Club felt generous were well-written and helpful.Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?As a member of the Ambage, I must say it's a fun group to have joined. Its goal is to encourage writing, and I think the writing prompts it releases and the contests it runs help it attain that goal.I do not think organizations similar to the Ambage should be established for the Comedies and Epics forums for the simple reason that the Ambage is intended to span the entire collection of Library sub-forums and the new Off-Topic Culture forum: It is an organization about writing in general, not just writing short stories.Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?There are quite a few authors whose skills with prose I particularly admire: Takuta-Nui, Tolkien, Aderia, GSR, Rising Moon... the list continues, I'm sure, though at the moment I forget the usernames that continue it.The second part of this question I will answer below, as it and question ten are linked in my mind.Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?As I remember, my first big influence on BZPower was Takuta-Nui's [Etymology] series (linked here because of coding issues). It was very thoughtful science fiction whose concise writing style and ethereal plots kept me hooked. I consider the [Etymologies] a big component of my writing inspiration at the time.The next BZPower work of significant size to really enthrall me was an epic generally ignored by reviewers (though, funnily enough, followed by Takuta-Nui): What If?, by Toa Auserv, an epic detailing quite brilliantly the labors that must be done to correct a timeline. Sadly, I don't think the epic has been finished.One of the first story spotlights I remember seeing on the front page, a short story penned by Tolkien and entitled Despair, is one of the best short stories I've read on BZPower.Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?I can't answer this question due to being generally unfamiliar with Library activity. I certainly think my activity in the Library could be increased (A.K.A. brought up from zero).Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?I don't think round robins should be allowed due to their danger of becoming too sporadic, but I think its closest legal analogue, improvising chapters with minimal inter-writer plotting, is fine.Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not?I think there were plenty of questions to answer.

[color=#336699;]Q1: What is your favorite section of the Library? Any specific reasons why?SHORT STORIES. Because that's where all my stories go becaise I'm too apathetic to write epics and too dull and serious to write comedies.Q2: Least favorite subforum?SHORT STORIES. Because it doesn't have enough of my work in it.Q3: Should the entire Library have a 300 word count minimum? Why or why not? (old question)No. Can you imagine a 300 word epic? I tihnk the reason that comedies has the limit is because they'd become prone to just posting one-off Bionicle themed jokes, whereas short stories and epics aren't just for posting one neat quote, because that's not a story. To clarify: A joke may be a comedy, but a sentence is not a story. Unless it's a really short story. Like a haiku.SCRATCH EVERYTHING I SAID. WE SHOULD ABOLISH THE RULE ENTIRELY.Q4: Should comedies be merged with the rest of the Library? Why or why not? (old question)No, it can still be its own thing. I'm not sure why that genre was isolated from any other ones either, but it works fine.Q5: What are your favorite themes to write about? Do you feel there are some that could be better expressed through your writing without the influence of Bionicle?APOCALYPSE AND BLOOD. If I didn't write Bionicle I could put blood in. A lot of my stories in that regard aren't about Bionicle at all, so they're not posted here.Q6: How often do you tend to post stories? How often do you review stories? (old question)When I feel like it and when I feel like it, honestly. I have no schedule or creed to maintain.Q7: Have you ever made use of the critics clubs? Do you often find them helpful? (old question)No and also no. Since I don't use them I can't say whether they helpor not.Q8: Ambage is the newest writing club that has been inserted into Short Stories forum. It's a community of writers attempting to help each other, and holds flash fiction writing contests. Do you think something very similar to that should be made for the Epics forum? Maybe also for Comedies? Why or why not?Ack I dunno. The Ambage is hard enough to maintain, who else would head the others? I think the Ambage is meant for all the forums, honestly, even if we come across as comedy-haters. BECAUSE COMEDIES SUCK AND WE ARE SERIOUS.Q9: Who are your favorite authors on BZP? Do you feel any specific ones inspire you more than others?Janus, Velox, and GSR all have amazing stuff, but I'd be doing a disservice to ToakiroV if I didn't say that his work was the first that made me stop and reconsider what Bionicle fiction could be.Q10: What are your favorite stories on BZP?The one linked above plus all my own.Q11: Do you feel the activity of the Library has decreased recently? How do you think it could be increased?Maybe a little. More encouragement to new writers might help.Q12: Do you think that Round-Robin writing should be allowed? Why or why not?No, except for special contests and junk. They degrade into incoherent messes too easily and aren't fun to read unless they're incredibly well coordinated.Q13: Do you think there are a sufficient amount of Library-related questions here? Why or why not? (note, if you do have ideas for other or better questions, please post them and I will be glad to add them to the main topic postyes these will do nicely[/color]